1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a distributed computer system known as a grid cluster in which a cluster of loosely coupled computers function as a single computer. More specifically, the invention relates to management of configuration information for the grid cluster and security associated therewith.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A computer cluster is a group of loosely coupled computers, also known as nodes that work together closely so that in many respects they can be viewed as though they are a single computer. Clustering is used for parallel processing, load balancing, and fault tolerance. For example, clustering is a popular strategy for implementing parallel processing application because it enables leveraging of assets within the cluster. The components of a cluster are commonly, but not always, connected to each other through fast local area networks. Clusters are usually deployed to improve performance and/or availability over that provided by a single computer, while typically being much more cost-effective than single computers of comparable speed or availability. Examples of different types of computer clusters include high availability cluster and high performing computer clusters. The high availability cluster is deployed for the purpose of improving accessibility to an application through the use of redundant nodes, and the high performance computing cluster increases performance by splitting tasks across different nodes in the cluster. Regardless of the type of computer cluster, they all share the common characteristics of a cluster wherein the nodes are geographically located in a single computer center to support the leveraging of assets among the nodes.
Another form of computer networking that is closely related to cluster computing is grid computing, also known as grid clusters. The key differences between grid clusters and traditional clusters are that grid clusters connect collections of computers which do not fully trust each other, or which are geographically dispersed. Grid clusters typically support heterogeneous collections than are commonly supported in clusters. In one embodiment, a grid cluster may be composed of two or more computer clusters, wherein the grid connects the clusters. Accordingly, grid clusters resemble more of a computing utility than a single computer.
Grid computing optimizes workloads which consist of many independent jobs or packets of work, which do not have to share data between the jobs during the computation process. More specifically, grids serve to manage the allocation of jobs to computers which will perform the work independently of the rest of the grid cluster. Resources such as storage may be shared by all the nodes, but intermediate results of one job do not affect other jobs in progress on other nodes of the grid.
Given the structure of the grid computing system, security issues arise with respect to execution of code, system modification, etc. However, the grid computing system does not have the security features of a computer cluster. Accordingly, the inventors of this invention have identified a need for employment of a security system in a grid computing system which extends to protection of system and application modification, execution of malicious code, and other unauthorized use of the resources within the grid.